Convert Text to Sentence Case using Excel Formulas [Quick Tips]

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It is almost 3:30 am now, I stayed awake for last 23 hours so that Excel School 2 can be ready for rolling. But that is no excuse for not having a post here. So here it goes.

Excel has formulas for converting a bunch of text to UPPER, lower and Proper Cases. But not a formula to convert o Sentence case. So, today we will learn a simple formula tip to convert text to sentence case (ie, First letter capital).

Convert to Sentence Case - Excel Formulas

Assuming your text is in C2, the formula is,

=UPPER(LEFT(C2,1))&MID(LOWER(C2),2,999)

How the formula works?

It is converting first letter of C2 to upper case [UPPER(LEFT(C2,1))] and lower case of rest of C2 [MID(LOWER(C2),2,999)]

The 999 portion is the secret code to unlock ninja features of MID formula.

Well, I am kidding of course, the 999 is just a cop-out to say give me rest of the C2, I don’t know the length of it. (of course, 999 would fail if your text actually has more than 1000 chars. In that case, just use 9999 or whatever large number you fancy.)

Another formula:

=SUBSTITUTE(LOWER(C2),CHAR(CODE(C2)),UPPER(CHAR(CODE(C2))),1)

PS: As you can guess, the above formulas assume that C2 has one sentence. If C2 has a whole paragraph, then I would really need a sandwich before thinking about that problem.

How do you convert cases using Excel?

Please share your tips using comments.

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12 Responses to “Analyzing Search Keywords using Excel : Array Formulas in Real Life”

  1. Very interesting Chandoo, as always. Personally I find endless uses for formulae such as {=sum(if(B$2:B$5=$A2,$C$2$C$5))}, just the flexibility in absolute and relative relative referencing and multiple conditions gives it the edge over dsum and others methods.

    I've added to my blog a piece on SQL in VBA that I think might be of interest to you http://aviatormonkey.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/lesson-one-sql-in-vba/ . It's a bit techie, but I think you might like it.

    Keep up the good work, aviatormonkey

  2. Andy Pope says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    You might find this coded solution I posted on a forum interesting.

    http://www.excelforum.com/excel-programming/680810-create-tag-cloud-in-vba-possible.html

  3. [...] under certain circumstances.  One of the tips involved arranging search keywords in excel using Array Forumlas.  Basically, if you need to know how frequent a word or group of keywords appear, you can use this [...]

  4. Chandoo says:

    @Aviatormonkey: Thanks for sharing the url. I found it a bit technical.. but very interesting.

    @Andy: Looks like Jarad, the person who emailed me this problem has posted the same in excelforum too. Very good solution btw...

  5. bob says:

    Realy great article

    "You can take this basic model and extend it to include parameters like number of searches each key phrase has, how long the users stay on the site etc. to enhance the way tag cloud is generated and colored."

    How would you go about doing this? I think it would need some VB

  6. Thiago says:

    Hi,
    I found the usage very interesting, but is giving me hard time because the LENs formula that use ranges are not considering the full range, in other words, the LEN formula is only bringing results from the respective "line" cell.

    Using the example, when I place the formula to calculate the frequency for "windows" brings me only 1 result, not 11 as displayed in the example. It seems that the LEN formula using ranges is considering the respective line within the range, not the full range.

    Any hint?

  7. Hui... says:

    @Thiago
    You have to enter the formula as an Array Formula
    Enter the Formula and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
    Not just Enter

  8. Gary says:

    is there a limit to the number of lines it can analyse.
    Ie i am trying to get this to work on a list of sentances 1500 long. 

    • Hui... says:

      @Gary
      In Excel 2010/2013 Excel is only limited by available memory,
      So just give it a go
      As always try on a copy of the file first if you have any doubts

  9. Sumit says:

    Apologies if I am missing something, but coudn't getting frequency be easier with Countif formula. Something like this - COUNTIF(Range with text,"*"&_cell with keyword_&"*")

  10. Ray says:

    Apologies if I missed, but what is the Array Formula to:

    1. Analyze a list of URL's or a list of word phrases to understand frequency;
    2. List in a nearby column from most used words to least used words;
    3. Next to the list of words the count of occurrences.

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